FDA commissioner names directors to Food Safety, Veterinary Centers.
Stephen Sundlof, Ph.D., is moving from director of the Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) to director of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. Bernadette Dunham, Ph.D., who is deputy director of CVM, will assume directorship of CVM. For over a decade, Sundlof has served as...

Public and technical interdependence: regulatory controversy, out-law discourse, and the messy case of Olestra.
By some accounts, Procter & Gamble's fat substitute olestra (brand name Olean) (1) is a dangerous food additive that can "cause diarrhea and cramps and that can increase your risk of heart disease, cancer, and blindness" (Jacobson, 1998, p.2). Procter & Gamble (P&G), on the other hand, claims that...

Teeny tiny terror.
Nanotechnology--the manipulation of particles at microscopic levels--is being used in food additives, colourings and packaging, and governments are ignoring the risks, according to Georgia Miller, co-ordinator of the Friends of the Earth Nanotechnology Project. Multinationals such as Kraft, Nestle and Unilever all have active nano-research programmes but are not...

Food additives affect children.
Thirty years after concerns were first raised about common food additives and their effect on children, the UK's Food Standards Agency is issuing new guidance, recommending that children should avoid specific named additives if they suffer from hyperactivity or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This follows the results of...

Food deductions.
Asda, a Walmart-owned supermarket chain in the UK, announced it will cut food additives in all of its 9000 products by the end of the year. In response, Marks and Spencer says it will do the same for 99 per cent of its products. The move away from artificial...

Call for food colour ban: the food standards regulator is recommending a voluntary industry ban on six artificial food colours due to their possible effect on children's behaviour.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is advising ministers that there should be action by manufacturers to remove six artificial food colours identified as affecting children's behaviour in a University of Southampton study. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] FSA chair Dame Deirdre Hutton stated: 'These additives give colour to...

Methods Committee on additives, beverages, and food process-related analytes and filth and extraneous materials in food and drugs.
Committee Actions This year, the Committee undertook the review of 19 First Action methods pending Final Action. Nine methods were voted FinalAction, 6will remain First Action, while 1 method was recommended to be repealed. Three methods referring to dairy products and coffee will be moved to their...

Letter from the President.
AFTER YEARS of being told that they should avoid alcohol altogether, it has recently been widely reported in the press that pregnant women can drink the equivalent of a small glass of wine a day. These reports were based on the publication by NICE of its consultation document on...

Study links food additives to hyperactive behavior in children.
Children given a beverage containing certain mixtures of food colors and the preservative sodium benzoate showed significantly increased hyperactivity scores in a British randomized, controlled, crossover study. Findings of the study, which included 153 3-year-olds and 144 8- and 9-year-old children selected from the general population, support...

Are you colour addictive?
Adulterated food deprives the body of nutrients essential for proper growth and development. AFTER the non-hygienic junk foods, it's adulterated food that's raising alarms among health officials around the world. Food adulteration is a slow killer and can be found in any food item, ranging...